Washington, D.C. — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division of Market Oversight (DMO) and Market Participants Division (MPD) announced today that they are extending previously granted temporary no-action relief in connection with the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU), known as Brexit. 

On February 25, 2019, the CFTC issued a statement in conjunction with the Bank of England, including the Prudential Regulation Authority, and the Financial Conduct Authority to provide for the continuity of derivatives trading and clearing activities between the UK and United States.  

In keeping with the joint statement, DMO & MPD issued CFTC Staff Letter No. 20-39 to provide a temporary no-action position benefiting certain swap dealers, as well as certain multilateral trading facilities (MTFs), organised trading facilities (OTFs), and their market participants.

In August 2021, DMO issued CFTC Staff Letter No. 21-17 to amend its no-action position provided in CFTC Staff Letter 20-39 in order to expand its scope to include certain additional MTFs and OTFs.

The CFTC staff letters maintained the status quo for UK entities of certain CFTC comparability determinations and exemptive orders the CFTC originally issued for EU entities while the Commission worked with the relevant UK authorities to analyze relevant UK law and, where appropriate, replicate these actions for UK entities. These efforts continue between the CFTC and the relevant UK authorities, therefore, the divisions are extending the temporary no-action positions already provided.